jim henson

Alternate title: 'Mick Jones and The Road to Arena Rock' (Not to be confused with 'The other Mick Jones and The Road to Rock The Casbah').

A ripping instrumental version this month, steeped in obscurity, some snaky roots of rock history, and many dues paid along the way.

Major thanks are extended to my old pal
Pink Frankenstein for his assistance in connecting the dots.

'Les Blackburds' was the name of a backing band for legendary French pop singer
Johnny Hallyday, circa 1966 - '68.

The band was basically a group of 'hired gun' session musicians who could provide the
British-Beat elements that commerce dictated necessary to provide Hallyday with the sound of the day.

Leading the group was the team of guitarist Micky Jones and drummer Tommy Brown.

Brits Jones and Brown had worked together a few years earlier as they passed through the ever-changing ranks of the group Nero & The Gladiators, gaining some notice before moving on to their own partnership, later recording as the duo The State of Micky and Tommy.

They picked up a variety of session work as well, and in early 1964 were 'designated Brits' in French singer Sylvie Vartan's backing band for a series of performances in Paris.

A professional association with her husband Johnny Hallyday soon followed, and continued through the sixties.

Hallyday released new singles and EPs at a steady clip, and so the band was often traveling from their home in Paris back to London recording studios to capture 'the English sound' with
Glyn Johns or other producers.

In the photo, Johnny Hallyday with Les Blackburds ►

As 'Les Blackburds', the band's lineup typically included:

Micky Jones, guitar
Tommy Brown, drummer
Raymond Donnez
(aka Don Ray), keyboards
Gérard 'Papillon' Fournier, bass
Sam Kelly, percussion
Gérard Pisani, Pierre Ploquin, Jacques Ploquin, Gilles Pellegrini; trumpets
Jean Tosan, sax
Luis Fuentes, trombone

- - Though at this time it's uncertain if that was the exact line-up on their instrumental 'boogaloo' EP released (sans Hallyday) in '67.

From the EP 'The Blackburds play the Bugaloo'
(Phillips Records [France], 1967),
listen to:

Les Blackburds - The "In" Crowd
(click for audio)

- - and then for the next few years, things got interesting for Mick Jones.

His partnership with Tommy Brown began to wind down at the beginning of the 1970's, and eventually so did collaborations with Johnny Hallyday.

In 1970, he joined the line-up of
Gary Wright's new group, Wonderwheel, formed after the break-up of Spooky Tooth.

By 1972, Wright and Jones were members of a reformed Spooky Tooth, recording a couple of albums and changing personnel a few times before breaking up again in 1974.

During this general period Jones also played guitar on an album for Peter Frampton, on George Harrison's 'Dark Horse' LP, and on a few other artist's recording gigs as well.

After Spooky Tooth, he detoured to New York City for several months, working in the music industry as an A&R man for Nigel Thomas' short-lived Good Ear Records.

Heading back to performing, beginning in 1975 Jones did a relatively short stint in
The Leslie West Band, after the breakup of West's band, Mountain.

It appears that after working in A&R and working with the volatile West, Jones made the decision to start his own outfit.

The origins of Mick's career-defining group Foreigner quickly followed.

He met with multi-instrumentalist
Ian McDonald (a fellow Brit, formerly of
King Crimson) and recruited relatively unknown vocalist Lou Gramm, whom Jones had met a few years prior while touring with Spooky Tooth.

Filled out to a sextet and formed in New York in 1976, the band's name came from their 'hybrid' status as a blended Brit and American band.

If you lived through the end of the '70's and the '80's, you may recall that Foreigner did pretty well...

See also:

- A live appearance on 1960's French TV by
Johnny Hallyday and (quite possibly) Les Blackburds performing 'If I Was A Carpenter'.

- A video clip from The Dick Cavett Show circa 1971 shows Mick Jones as a member of Gary Wright's Wonderwheel, with guest George Harrison.

- A partial listing of Mick Jones' recording credits
at All Music.Com

- Click here to view the exhaustively detailed
'Mick Jones Panorama' biographical website, including the anecdotes avoided here about paths crossed with The Beatles, Otis Redding, Jimmy Page, Ahmet Ertegun and other music industry luminaries.

- Click here for this entry and all the previous
'In Crowd of the month' posts together on one page.

Jazz composition can be dirty work, especially when you use exotic time signatures.

Jazz piano legend Dave Brubeck is shown below with his family at their home in Connecticut in this advertisement that originally ran in the November, 1969 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

(click on image to ENLARGE text in new window)



Little did I know when I began blogging that it would turn out to be so educational, darn the luck.

Doing just a little bit of research, I was fascinated to learn a bit more about "statuesque"
Iola Brubeck, Dave's wife of 65 years.

Having worked and studied in radio, as a writer, and free-lance actress, Iola became her husband's personal manager, publicist, and occasional lyricist after the birth of the first of their 6 children (four of whom became professional musicians).

In the photo, ►
together in 1954 at their innovative modern-design home in the hills of Oakland, California's Montclair district.

Beginning in the late 1950's the couple collaborated on a jazz stage musical,
'The Real Ambassadors'.

The show's story was a fantasy built around race relations and foreign diplomacy.

A soundtrack LP was recorded in
1961 with a cast that included Louis Armstrong, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and
Carmen McRae, and the show premiered at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1962.

The Monterey Jazz Festival in 2006 included the debut of Dave and Iola's jazz opera, the
John Steinbeck-based
'Cannery Row Suite'.

In the photo, ►
together in September of 2007 on their 65th wedding anniversary on the terrace of Clint Eastwood's Mission Ranch hotel in Carmel, California.

In 2000, they founded The Brubeck Institute at their former alma mater, University of The Pacific in Stockton, California. What began as an educational archive has evolved to also provide scholarships in jazz performance.

Hats off to Iola Brubeck - - Her achievements have even exceeded that purchase of a dryer at Sears...

See also:
- 'A Conversation with Iola Brubeck' at PBS.org

- Dave Brubeck at All Music.Com and at Dave Brubeck.Com

Toronto's Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet were a fun,
mostly-instrumental kinda-surfy band that were around for about ten years, from the mid-1980's to mid-'90's.

◀ In the photo, from left to right:
Don Pyle, drums
Brian Connelly, guitar, keyboards
Reid Diamond, bass




They'll always be best remembered for their association with the Canadian comedy troupe Kids In The Hall; On their TV show the band provided 'transitional' music between sketches as well as the program's theme song,
'Having An Average Weekend'.

The Shadowy Men released 3 full-length albums together, presented here is one of roughly a dozen singles and EPs they put out.

After the end of The Shadowy Men era, the former bandmates went on to perform and record with an assortment of bands, including Phonocomb and Atomic 7.
Bass player Reid Diamond lost a battle with cancer and passed away in 2001.

For detailed info regarding the band and their various musical incarnations following their break-up, click over to 'The Shadowy Site On A Shadowy Web'
- - an Unofficial webpage for The Shadowy Men.

From the 'Music For Pets'
7" EP (K Records, 1991),
Listen to
Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet:

Rover & Rusty

Here Kitty

The Cat Came Back

Baby Elephant Walk

That Wuz Ear Me Callin' A Horse

Nothing spells fun at an
All-American 4th of July picnic like hot dogs made to resemble explosives.

(Click on image to ENLARGE in a new window)

Have a safe and sane celebration next Friday, and be careful handling those Weenie Cannons; you never know when one will go off...

Another week, another batch of essential whatnot...

1. Carlin Continued: It was a safe bet that we'd see lots of remembrances of comedian George Carlin after his death last weekend.

I've found it a little shocking how much 'official' reportage seemed to really not 'get' Carlin at all - - and yet there they were, using his 1972 'Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television' as a main focus, and missing the breadth of a diverse career that began long before and stayed vital for the 3-plus decades following.

A couple of nice exceptions that I enjoyed were Jerry Seinfeld's short and sweet op-ed piece in the New York Times, and a GREAT post at WFMU's Beware of the Blog that concerns itself with Carlin's early comedy career, from his partnership with Jack Burns and early ventures in television.

Several links are provided to video clips from 1965 through 1972, including an appearance on the game show 'What's My Line', the strange sight of a Carlin introduction from Jimmy Durante, and much more.
Check it out!

ALSO:

2. Easily lost amid the spotlight on Mr. Carlin's exit, a moment please, to remember comic actress
Dody Goodman, who also passed away last weekend.
She was 93.

Goodman's 1950's stage roles led her to a long string of TV talk show appearances in that decade, showcasing her trademark ditsy persona.

She then became something of a 'professional celebrity' until the mid 1970's, when she played Martha Shumway, the mother on Norman Lear's TV soap opera parody, 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'.





That role led to her appearances in both of the 'Grease' movies as Blanche Hodel, the principal's assistant at Rydell High, at which point Ms. Goodman remained quite active on film, TV and stage well into the 1990's.

Looking over her credits reinvigorates my desire to finally track down and see 1964's 'Bedtime Story'.

She had a supporting role opposite David Niven and Marlon Brando in this film comedy that would be remade in 1988 as 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' with Michael Caine and Steve Martin in the lead roles.

I'll keep my eyes open for that, and (who knew?) her 1957 LP of novelty songs, too...

See also: Dody Goodman.Com

3. Meanwhile, during a recent phone conversation with
My Friend Topic, we were both multi-tasking in front our computers (as usual), which meant at least one of us was doing two or more activities poorly at the same time.

Among other things, Topic was looking at online images of tattoo art.

Sparking a shift in the conversation, she pointed me to the
Bad Tattoos Gallery at Radar Online, which shows a selection of photos included in 'No Regrets', a recent coffee-table book that collects examples of some interesting choices in body art.









Many of the images found in the book were already floating aroud online, and I strongly suggest you surf around and see what you find.

Some are brilliantly funny, bold and creative, some are unfortunate mishaps or just poorly rendered.

Many of the tattoos you can uncover might make you thankful that it didn't happen to you, and several very special ones travel WAY past the big questions of 'Why?' and 'What were you thinking?' into a jaw-dropping territory of
'?!?!?'.

Not surprisingly, there are PLENTY of places to see bad tattoos online.

A couple of photo galleries that you might start with: (Watch out! NSFW)

- 'Worst tattoo you have ever seen' at grupthink
- A recurring series, 'Really Bad Tattoos' posted at Typebrighter

- - but go ahead, run your own search: "Bad Tattoos" - -
It's a great big colorful world out there...

Speaking of which - -

◀ 4. These and other great portrait studies capturing the human condition are available for viewing at Jowlers.Com
("Where distortion is cause for celebration").
It's a huge photo sharespace devoted to shots of what they like to call 'The Jowler'.

"These fun pictures are created when the subject of a photo shakes their head really fast while the picture is taken."



This is the sort of project that should be happening on a global scale. A vast catloguing of 'jowling' faces around the globe. Just the thing to bring all the diverse nations of the world together.

For now, browse in fascination through galleries of folks who just may have all wound up with bad headaches.
Surprise - - lots of college students, lots of drunken revelry. You can also sort photos by all men, all women, groups, and shots that include flying saliva and other ejecta. Perhaps not for the squeamish. (Via People Corporation)

5. - - and also via People Corporation, it's 'The Worst Batman Squirt Toy Ever'. ▶

What were they thinking?











6.The Newsarama blog has posted a 'sneak peek' of comics and other books to be published by Fantagraphics later this year.

In addition to some predictable items, like new reprint volumes in their gorgeous Complete Peanuts, Complete Segar's Popeye and Ketcham's Dennis The Menace series, and new issues of their Mome comix anthology, here are a couple of other items I'll likely be committing to my 'wish list':

- 'Modern Swarte: Joost Comics' - - A major retrospective of the comics work done by Dutch 'clear line' artist
Joost Swarte since 1972. Long overdue, at least here in the US.

- 'We Are not Saints' - - The latest collection of Kaz's 'Underworld' comic strip. Essential reading!

- 'The Wolverton Bible' - - Later in his career, the amazing Basil Wolverton followed his unique legacy of humorous and horrific comic book work with a long period of illustrating bible stories. This collection brings that work together, with previously unpublished material.


- 'Love & Rockets: New Stories #1' - -
New numbering for another new re-boot, new material in a new annual 112-page trade paperback format.
The Hernandez Brothers can do just about whatever they please. I'll be there, just like I have since the first #1 back in the '80's...

What a look, and what a hook; It's Lene Lovich with her perfect first hit single.

This 'extended dance mix' version loops around an extra lap or two, with just a bit of extra fairy dust thrown in to bring it in at just under two minutes longer than the original.

To most ears, the only quality that makes it 'Slavic' is Lovich's heritage on her father's side.

Born in Detroit, she was 13 when her Mom brought her back to her native England (minus Dad) in the mid-sixties.

Before long, Lene had met her partner and musical collaborator Les Chappell, and in 1968 they traveled to London to attend art school.

A staggering array of musical and artistic pursuits and exotic semi-professional avocations were to follow between then and 1978, when she found herself among the forefront of women punk & new wave artists, and on a concert tour with a bevy of fellow performers from the Stiff record label as her first hit single and accompanying LP climbed the charts.

Listen to:
Lene Lovich -
Lucky Number (Slavic Dance Version)
(Stiff/Epic 45, 1979)
(click for audio)

See also:
- 'Innovation in New Wave: Lene Lovich'
- A bio at Perfect Sound Forever

- Lene Lovich: The CREEM Profile (Boy Howdy!)

- Follow link to the 'Lucky Number' promo music video, and look below ▼ for
Lene lip-synching on the U.K.'s
'Top of The Pops' in 1981 to 'New Toy', a great follow-up hit single.
You can catch a glimpse or two of keyboardist Thomas ('She Blinded Me With Science') Dolby in the background.
He wrote the tune while a member of Lovich's touring band, or so legend has it...

So it turns out I've led a sheltered life.

I was in a thrift store when I found this copy of the May 20th, 1985 issue of India's Tinkle Comics, and for me it was an encounter with something truly exotic and odd.

Locusts, hovercrafts, historical pieces, folklore and parables, content ideas from readers - - What IS this?!? And who is this 'Uncle Pai'??

Growing up in the U.S., and not having traveled much outside its borders, I'd never seen this comic book magazine.

What I've learned is that since its first issue in 1980, Tinkle has continued to be a hugely familiar part of growing up for vast numbers of people in India and beyond.

(Click on images to ENLARGE in a new window) ▶

Tinkle's founding editor Anant Pai had previously launched the Amar Chitra Katha comics imprint in 1967, which soon became one of India's largest series of comic books, crafted to teach Indian kids more about their cultural heritage.

Like most of the ACK titles, editions of Tinkle are published in English and several Indian languages.

In searching about the web for more background, what comes through in abundance are the fond memories people have of reading this comic book, being entertained by it, and learning from it.
Heart-warming stuff.

As a 40-something American, the particular passion of that response is most reminiscent of memories I and my peers have of growing up with titles like Classics Illustrated, Archie and MAD magazine in the 1960's and '70's.

- - But it was fun and refreshing to find myself approaching Tinkle as a truly unknown quantity.
Certainly I've seen tons of comics in my time, so it wasn't TOO alien, but still it smacked of something different.

To digress for a moment, the experience reminded me just a little bit of an elementary school memory; When I found a severely tattered copy of - 'Zap Comix' #5 under a bush in the park (no doubt left there by some filthy hippie I suppose).
I'd never seen an underground comic book, or half of the things this one depicted.
I could barely recognize it as being the same 'species' as the comic books I knew, and yet the experience was indelible.

Finding Tinkle was strange and other-worldly, too, though not as sensational as discovering Zap as a 7-year old.
(Tinkle also didn't immediately fill me with a sense that I was 'in trouble', and sure to be punished.)

At first I found Tinkle's format and artwork a bit
off-putting, but guessed that maybe that comes from it being outside of my experience.
It's just different, not 'wrong'.

Soon my feeling was that it all seemed to be doing its job with precision and economy, which seems appropriate for a comic that's printed fortnightly.

In posting about Tinkle, I realize that for many it's a very mundane thing to see some of these old pages.
Maybe worthy of a little bit of nostalgia, but no big deal.

But those folks will just have to bear with the rest of us for a moment while we pause to take in something outside of familiar territory...

(click on links to open pages in a new window ▼)


▲ As shown above; ▲
- A message from 'Uncle Pai' ▲

- 'The Pledge' ▲▲

- 'Hovercraft' ▲▲

◀
- 'The Flexible Cap', page 1
- 'The Flexible Cap', page 2
- 'The Flexible Cap', page 3
- 'The Flexible Cap', page 4








- 'Bagging a Seat'

- 'Shield Meets Spear'

- 'Raghu' & 'Readers Write...'




- 'Singing Out a Secret', page 1 ▶
- 'Singing Out a Secret', page 2
- 'Singing Out a Secret', page 3



- 'Indifference'

- 'Purse Farce' & competition results

- 'Mooshik' & 'To Our Readers...'





◀
- 'A Son-In-Law Comes To Dinner', page 1
- 'A Son-In-Law Comes To Dinner', page 2


- Ad: 'Tuffy the Tortoise'

- Back cover ad: 'Maggi Doodle pens'

The song 'How Could Red Riding Hood (Have Been So Very Good)?', written by A.P. Randolph in 1925 and published in 1926 currently holds the distinction of being the first song known to be banned from the radio (except in instrumental versions), due to possible sexual connotations. +

According to a few sources, it may have begun with radio Station WFAA (Dallas/Fort Worth) declaring that bandleader Jan Garber's '26 recording of the song was "improper and suggestive".

Supposedly, slightly differing lyrics included in assorted recordings of the song made the difference as to whether or not it was deemed objectionable.

The Jan Garber recording and a SUPERB 1926 version by The Yacht Club Boys contained the verse purported to be the culprit:

'They say that she was a maid most discreet,
'And there's no doubt about it, she must have been sweet,
'But you know, and I know that even sweet girls must eat.
'How Could Red Riding Hood, Have Been so Very Good
and Still Keep the Wolf from the Door.'

Versions that escaped the ban include one by Harry Reser's Six Jumping Jacks, and the version by
Al Lentz and his orchestra presented here.

They don't contain the above verse, but do have in common the following verse:

'They say that she found a wolf in Granny's bed,
'A big sun-bonnet pulled over his head,
'But you know and I know what she found instead!
'How Could Red Riding Hood, Have Been so Very Good
and Still Keep the Wolf from the Door.'

- - Which was not viewed as possessing as many prurient possibilities, apparently.

Band leader Al Lentz was known back in the '20's for providing hot and fast dance music at his orchestra's live dates, but if he's remembered at all today, it tends to be for novelty numbers like these...

Dig those scatty throat-'tromnet' solos!



Listen to:
Al Lentz and his Orchestra -
How Could Red Riding Hood?
(Columbia Records 78, 1926)

(click for audio)












Listen to:
Al Lentz and his Orchestra -
Elsie Schultz-En-Heim
(Columbia Records 78, 1926)

(click for audio)


- For more versions of 'How Could Red Riding Hood' (and TONS of other material as well) click over to The Red Hot Jazz Archive.
Using their 'Search' feature and plugging in 'How Could Red Riding Hood' will produce dozens of results. (May require Real Player) Enjoy!

Still processing the news of George Carlin's passing.

I guess one of the things that saddens me about losing Carlin is that he was still performing good material, and as was the case over so much of his career, it seemed that his style was still evolving.

Beginning in 1997 with his book 'Brain Droppings' Carlin found new success in essentially committing his stand-up routines to paper.

I didn't read the books, because I knew I'd really enjoy hearing his voice on all the audiobook versions.

I continue to find the difference between those audio 'performances' and the live stand-up shows really interesting, especially as the past few years took his shtick further and further into the realm of spirited crankiness and bile-spewing.

In comparing the complimentary shades of darkness between his last live CD and the audiobook version of his last book, 'When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?' there's something informative there that I think points to the brilliance Carlin had as a performer.


One book of his that I do own, however, is his first, a slim volume printed in something close to a glossy magazine format back in 1984.

Truth is, it's not a great book.
It's fun, but it's pretty half-assed in its presentation.

Like his later books, much of it is drawn from his stand-up comedy act - - in fact, some of the same material in 'Sometimes A Little Brain Damage Can Help' got recycled a bit and wound up in
'Brain Droppings' and maybe some of the other books.

Still, he did something just a little different with his humor in this book, and looking over its various little lists and 'Carlin-isms', his style shines through.

You don't see this one around much anymore; hope you enjoy peeking at some of its pages.

At this point, should I bother mentioning that it may not be suitable for those who are easily offended?













































(Click on images or titles listed below to ENLARGE pages in a new window)
- Acknowledgements & Table of Contents

- Tonight's Program

- Misc. B.S.

- The Book Club

- People I Can Do Without

- A Salute to Famous Bands

- Things You Never See

- Tumors & Food, Tumors & Sports

- Advertisements

- Milwaukee Obscenity Complaint

- (back cover) Tie Champion

A previous post here about actress & singer Lainie Kazan continues to get a fair amount of attention - - some of it no doubt generated by her recent supporting role in another
Adam Sandler film, but certainly also due to ongoing interest and curiosity about this talented and singular entertainer.

- - and then there are those who are still just now 'discovering' her.

Time for a follow-up post; Here are tracks from another classic mid-1960's Kazan album!

(Click on liner notes image ▼
to ENLARGE in a new window)


From Lainie Kazan's
'Right Now!' LP,
(MGM Records, 1966), Listen to:

Blues In The Night
Blue Skies
Joey, Joey, Joey
House of Flowers
Black, Black, Black
My Man's Gone Now
I Cried For You
Feeling Good
Don't Like Goodbyes
I'm Shooting High

(click for audio)

- - OR download all 10 tracks in one 27.1 Mb zipfile.

See also:
- Lainie Kazan listed at IMDb

- Lainie Kazan listed at the Internet Broadway Database

- Lainie Kazan's
Official Website

- Follow link for a '60's TV solo performance clip of 'What Now My Love?'

▼ Below, a video clip of a typically casual performance from one of Lainie's 26 TV appearances on
'The Dean Martin Show'.

According to his obituary in The International Herald Tribune, comedian
George Carlin died of heart failure in
Los Angeles on Sunday evening, June the 22nd, at the age of 71.


I wish it wasn't so, but of course it isn't up to me.

Rats.